A 30-year-old man, Prakash Yadav, was stoned to death and then shot to ensure he was dead near Khajekalan Ghat under the jurisdiction of Khajekalan police station in Patna City area on Friday afternoon.

The police said a group of people attacked Prakash when he was sitting with his friends near Khajekalan Ghat on the banks of the river Ganga.

The attackers stoned him to death and then pumped bullets into him. They did not stop there.

The men then dragged his body to the banks of the river and threw it into the river. The entire operation was captured on CCTV installed at a nearby building.

The police believe the murder was fallout of a land dispute.

A police official posted at Khajekalan police station said the dead man had criminal antecedents.

Criminal cases were pending against him in Sultanganj and other police stations in Patna. The authorities have pressed divers into service to recover Prakash's body, the officer said.

The incident has sent shock waves among residents of Patna City. "The manner in which the youth was killed in broad daylight shows criminals do not fear the men-in-uniform any more," said a resident.

The police, on the other hand, claimed that the identity of the criminals involved in the murder has already been ascertained. Raids were under way to arrest them at the earliest.

On Thursday, another youth was killed in Dariapur locality under the jurisdiction of Kadamkuan police station. These two murders within a span of 24 hours have exposed laxity in policing undertaken in the city, said Dinesh Gupta, a businessman.